Dreamshark! You live! ^_^;
On the character:
I think how all this will work int depends on where you put the focus. Like you said everyone else is doing these huge closeups of characters and stuff and you’re not. I think that the guy can be low-key and moderately generic, but only if the maze becomes the character and is filled with enough eye-catching malice or embarrassment ninjas. You could make it a metaphor on life, and make your character the every-person. As long as he doesn’t have a sign that says “n00b” over his head.
On the texturing: it does look excellent. One thing that seems a bit off is the base of the frontmost walls – it’s too light. Even with his lamp shining on it because that place is where two angles meet the light is going to be a little different. A light gradient to make the top fade down to a dark bottom – just a tad, mind – could make the separation between wall and ground more apparent.
One other thing that itches a bit is that the only color in the scene thus far comes from the man and the lamp. If this is a conscious choice (which could be interesting, theme-wise), then it needs to be more apparent. Maybe even the walls themselves around the character get more color. If it’s not conscious I think there should be some more color throughout the image, something to juxtapose elements.
I had a dream last night about a huge green pillar of fire… it was tasty! Keep going!